Headgear



E. CAIRNS A ril 30', 1963 HEADGEAR Filed April 15. 1960 INVENTOR. E0 mar/P0 Cfl/ENS.

ATTOPNEQSI United States 3,087,165 HEADGEAR Edward Cairns, Upper Montclair, N.J., assignor to Cairns & Brother Inc., Clifton, N.J., a corporation Filed Apr. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 22,542 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-3) This invention relates to headgear, and more particularly to improvements in protective headgear such as helmets and the like as used by firemen, soldiers and industrial workmen, and represents an improvement in headgear of the general types disclosed and described in my prior Patents Nos. 1,575,251, 2,431,678, 2,619,638 and 2,738,508.

The present invention embodies a new and different combination of elements that yields extraordinarily good results such that headgear made in accordance therewith will be firmly retained comfortably on the head of the wearer, and in addition, may readily be adjusted to flt a variety of head sizes with the same high degree of comfort and retention ability.

As a feature of the present invention, a series of inwardly and upwardly directed tongues of cushioning material are attached to the lower region of the lining assembly. These tongues are separated circumferentially from one another and each acts independently eificiently to cushion the head even though the assembly may be adjusted to comply with widely different sizes. Additionally, because of the independent action of the tongues, there is a degree of self adjustment providing uniform contact between the sweatband and the head, even though the head contour may be extremely irregular. It is preferred that the tongues number about 8 to 12 or more and same are arranged so that they will extend as a series about the wearers head beneath the so-called sweatband of the assembly. Each of such tongues acts independently to cushion the head of the wearer and is not affected by stresses set up in other tongues and thus the cushioning tongues do not act at any time to apply constricting pressure to the head of the wearer.

As a further feature of the present invention, the lining assembly is provided with spaced loops located in the region of the upper end of the tongues and a flexible strap or belt is threaded through these loops. Means are provided for adjustably buckling the ends of the strap together. These loops may take the form of spaced pairs of slits in the sweatband of the lining assembly and the strap or belt may conveniently be formed of a flexible plastic, leather or like material. This construction is advantageous whether or not the upper portion of the lining assembly is equipped with a drawstring, as is sometimes the case.

The above mentioned strap may be adjusted through a wide range of head sizes so that when acting in combination with the tongues, the headgear may fit a wide variety of head sizes and contours; and since the tongues act independently, the maximum cushioning effect is obtained over the full range of sizes to which the band or strap is adjusted.

There has thus been outlined rather broadly the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the several purposes of the invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims Patented Apr. 30, 1963 ice be regarded as including such equivalent construction as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

A specific embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description, and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a firemans helmet embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective and sectional view of a portion of the construction illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now to the drawings in further detail and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a helmet formed with a dome 10 and a brim 11 and having an insert assembly 12.

The dome and brim illustrated are in the form often preferred for firemens helmets, although it will be understood that the invention is applicable to protective headgear of various other types.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, four strips 14 of fabric such as canvas are each riveted at one end to the lower portion of the dome 10 and are connected at their upper ends by means of a drawstring 15 passing through hems formed therein. The two ends of such drawstring may be adjustably tied together as shown whereby the strips 14- collectively provide an upper barrier adjustable in position in known manner and against which the top of the wearers head may hear, at least when downward pressure is applied to the dome.

An endless semi-rigid head band 16 is detachably se cured around within the lower region of the dome 10 by means of a series of spaced apart springy, inert metal clips as at 17 which are each riveted as at 19 to the dome. The band 16 is formed with an upper, internal, annular groove 20 (FIG. 3) which receives a downwardly and outwardly directed tang portion 21 at the end of each of the clips 17.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lower edge of the head band 16 is also formed with a second, internal, annular groove 22 for receiving and supporting the insert assembly 12 in a manner to be described.

The insert assembly 12 comprises a generally cap shaped lining which, in the embodiment illustrated, is formed of an upper cloth portion 24 and a lower leather or sweatband portion 24 which portions are stitched together along their adjacent edges, although it will be understood that the lining may be formed completely of cloth, leather or the like. A flexible hoop 25 of spring wire or the like is secured to the lower edge of the sweathand 24' by means of a strip 26 of thin tough material such as leatherette or plastic folded over upon itself to form a hem in which the hoop 25 is disposed, such hem being secured as by a sewn seam to the lower edge of the sweatband 24'. The upper edge of the lining may also be hemmed as at 27 if desired, to receive a drawstring 27' which is adjustable in length upon tying the ends thereof together.

A series of closely circumferentially spaced tongues 28 of cushioning material such as sponge rubber may be secured as by stitching; to the lower edge of the sweatband 24 so as to lie against the lower, outer marginal edge thereof. These tongues are preferably of the order of about one inch or less in width. As disclosed in my earlier Patent No. 1,575,251 it is known to slightly stretch the lower edge or margin of a band of cushioning material as it is stitched to an insert assembly immediately above the covering which surrounds a flexible wire ring or hoop, such as the hoop 25 in the present embodiment; and this technique may be utilized when applying the individual tongues as described hereinbefo-re. Such an expedient causes the tongues to assume a position of about 45 to 60 to the horizontal, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The sweatband 24 is equipped with a series of spaced loops 29, which may be formed simply by providing pairs of spaced slits at intervals around the sweatband so as to provide about eight such loops equally spaced circumferentially and positioned with their lower ends adjacent the upper ends of the tongues 28.

A flexible strap or belt 30 of plastic, leather or the like, is threaded through the loop 29 soas to pass around the sweatband. The belt 30 is adjustable lengthwise and may be retained at any regular length by a thin buckle 31 secured to one end thereof.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention contributes headgear of the class described having a lining assembly with features which combine to provide adjustability over a Wide range of head sizes and at the same time, a maximum degree of comfort and retention ability, regardless of the head size selected. It will be appreciated that the individual tongues will press the sweatband firmly but comfortably against a relatively small head so as to retain the head gear thereon, and at the same time will cushion a relatively large head from the semi-rigid head band 16. Thus the lining size may be adjusted by the belt 30 and, since the cushioning means comprises a series of tongues, each acting independently and without reference to stresses in other tongues, the head gear will fit comfortably and yet firmly regardless of the head size to which it is adjusted.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a headgear of the class described, a crown member, an annular head band, means supporting said head band within said crown member, an insert assembly having top and bottom portions and including a section of soft flexible material adapted to engage a portion of the head of the wearer, means removably mounting the lower part of the insert assembly relatively to said head band, and a series of tongues of resilient material closely circumferentially spaced around the outer surface of said flexible material, securing means fastening the lower region of said tongues under tension to the lower region of said flexible material whereby each tongue is biased inwardly individually to urge the adjacent portion of the flexible material into firm resilient engagement with the head of the wearer.

2. In a headgear-of the class described, a crown member, an annular head band, means supporting said head band within said crown member, an insert assembly having top and bottom portions and including a section of soft flexible material adapted to engage a portion of the head of the wearer, means removably mounting the lower part of the insert assembly relatively to said head band, an adjustable band substantially concentric with said flexible material and associated therewith along a circumferential zone intermediate the top and bottom portions thereof, and a series of tongues of resilient material closely circumferentially spaced around the outer surface of said flexible material, securing means fastening the lower region of said tongues under tension to the lower region of said flexible material, the upper ends of said tongues lying adjacent said circumferential zone whereby each tongue is biased inwardly individually to urge the adjacent portion of the flexible material and said band into firm resilient engagement with the head of the wearer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,575,251 Cairns Mar. 2, 1926 2,184,043 Heilstedt et a1. -Dec. 19, 1939 2,738,508 Cairns Mar. 20*, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 332,994 Great Britain Aug. 7, 1930 717,121 Great Britain Oct. 20', 1954 

1. IN A HEADGEAR OF THE CLASS DESCRIBED, A CROWN MEMBER, AN ANNULAR HEAD BAND, MEANS SUPPORTING SAID HEAD BAND WITHIN SAID CROWN MEMBER, AN INSERT ASSEMBLY HAVING TOP AND BOTTOM PORTIONS AND INCLUDING A SECTION OF SOFT FLEXIBLE MATERIAL ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A PORTION OF THE HEAD OF THE WEARER, MEANS REMOVABLY MOUNTING THE LOWER PART OF THE INSERT ASSEMBLY RELATIVELY TO SAID HEAD BAND, AND A SERIES OF TONGUES OF RESILIENT MATERIAL CLOSELY CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED AROUND THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, SECURING MEANS FASTENING THE LOWER REGION OF SAID TONGUES UNDER TENSION TO THE LOWER REGION OF SAID FLEXIBLE MATERIAL WHEREBY EACH TONGUE IS BIASED INWARDLY INDIVIDUALLY TO URGE THE ADJACENT PORTION OF THE FLEXIBLE MATERIAL INTO FIRM RESILIENT ENGAGEMENT WITH THE HEAD OF THE WEARER. 